More than seven council employees in Edinburgh were paid at least £200,000 in the financial year 2023/24 according to figures collated by Tax Payers Alliance in its latest report.
The largest bonus paid by The City of Edinburgh Council was to the chief executive of Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), a subsidiary of City of Edinburgh, Marshall Dallas, who received a payment of £51,904 in 2023-24. He was handed a £72,000 bonus on top of his £159,000 salary in 2022-23, which with pension benefits made him the highest paid public sector employee in Edinburgh with a total package of £231,000. Mr Dallas announced his resignation in November 2024.
The EICC hosted more than 132,000 delegates and visitors in 2023, up from 72,000 the year before, which drove revenues up from £11.8 million in 2022 to a record £12.8 million in 2023, while profits rose from £699,000 in 2022 to £2.6 million in 2023.
| Name | Job title | Salary (£) | Expenses | Bonuses | Compensation | Other | Subtotal | Pension | Total | Notes |
| Andrew Kerr | Chief executive (now retired) | 200,617 | 1,849 | 202,466 | 202,466 | Excludes £234.07 for returning officer duties in 2023-24 | ||||
| Sarah Boyd | Interim managing director, Lothian buses ltd | 192,150 | 1,557 | 193,707 | 25,072 | 218,779 | ||||
| Paul Lawrence | Executive director of place | 180,443 | 812 | 181,255 | 40,961 | 222,216 | ||||
| Amanda Hatton | Executive director of children, education and justice services | 180,443 | 948 | 181,391 | 39,525 | 220,916 | ||||
| Deborah Smart | Executive director of corporate services | 180,443 | 315 | 180,758 | 38,002 | 218,760 | ||||
| Lea Harrison | Managing director, Edinburgh trams ltd | 177,030 | 177,030 | 26,375 | 203,405 | |||||
| Marshall Dallas | Chief executive, eicc | 169,056 | 51,904 | 220,960 | 19,441 | 240,401 | Bonus covers both the operational and hotel elements of the eicc | |||
| George Lowder | Chief executive, transport for Edinburgh | 159,162 | 2,256 | 161,418 | 161,418 | |||||
| Rona Hunter | Chief executive, capital city partnership | 88,214 | 88,214 | 17,908 | 106,122 |
The Town Hall Rich List for 2025 shows that council executive pay has broken all records with 3,906 officials in councils in the UK were paid more than £100,000 and of those 1,092 received more than £150,000.
This is the 19th publication of the list which also features 262 people who receive more than £200,000. The prime minister is paid £172,153 and 238 council employees in the UK are paid more than this.
The highest paid was the chief executive at Glasgow City Council, Annemarie O’Donnell, received £567,317 in total remuneration. This included £209,472 in salary and £357,845 in pension contributions. For the second year Glasgow is the local authority with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2023-24 was Glasgow, with 42, the same as last year.
A spokesperson for the Tax Payers Alliance which produces the Town Hall Rich List said: “Despite consistent calls about stretched budgets and struggling services, there has been a surge in the number of senior officials receiving six-figure remuneration packages at the same time that councils have seen boosts in revenues through council tax rises and increased funding from central government. This includes a 3.5 per cent real terms increase for councils in England announced in December. Recent TPA research also revealed that almost half of councils increased their usable reserves in the latest financial year. The TPA also recently revealed that one in ten councils are considering reducing bin collection services.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:“It’s a record breaking year in many respects for taxpayers as the country hurtles towards a record tax burden, all while the public sector continues to feather its nest.
“As our latest town hall rich list demonstrates, the number of council staff with six-figure remuneration packages has surged at the same time that services are being slashed and council tax is being hiked above inflation.
“Local residents can look up their own authority in our list and judge the quality of services and their council tax bill against the pay packets of their council bosses.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
